STEPHEN  Bo  WEEKS 

CLASS  OF  1686;  PH.  D.  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSTTY 


UK3 
1835A 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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OltAifOn 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


REV.  JOS, CALDWELL,  D.  D, 

lATE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY    OF    IVORTH-CAROtllVA  t 

DEtlVETlED 

AT    THE    RE(iIJEST    OF   THE     EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE, 

BEFORE  THE  TRUSTEES,  THE  FACULTY  AlfB  THE  STUDENTS, 

IN  PERSON  HALL, 
On  tlie  24tli  of  June,  1S35, 

BY  WALKER  AJN^DERSOl^,  A.  M. 

ADJUNCT    PROFESSOR    OF    NATURAL    AND    MORAL   PHILOSOPHYj 
IN  THE  SAME  UNIVERSITY. 


PRIIfTED    BY    J.   GALES   &    SOIft 

1835, 


^ 


iTION. 


*»»e® 


Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  aud  of  the 

Faculty,  and  young  Gentlemen  of  the  University^ 

It  was  ao  annual  custom  of  the  ancient  Spar- 
tans, fraught  with  tlie  most  wholesome  iniiuences, 
to  assemble  tlieir  youth  around  the  tomb  of  Leoni- 
das,  and  in  rendering  honors  to  the  shade  of  the 
illustrious  dead,  to  kindle  into  a  flame,  the  patri- 
otick  emotions,  w  hich  the  time,  the  place  and  the 
occasion,  were  so  well  calculated  to  inspire.  Over 
the  ashes  of  his  self-devoted  King, the  young  Spar- 
tan learned  the  lessons  of  devotion  to  his  country, 
which  formed  the  principle  of  his  future  life,  and 
in  the  eventful  scenes  of  his  warlike  career,  a  re- 
currence to  the  solemn  ceremony  that  had  so  deep- 
ly impressed  his  youthful  bosom,  would  nerve  his 
arm  with  new  strength  for  the  field  of  battle,  and 
prepare  him  to  shed  his  heart's  blood  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  country.  With  the  reverence  and  love 
which  drew  those  stern  people  to  the  tomb  of  their 
martyred  soldier,  are  we  assembled  to  pay  our 
lieart's  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one,  whose  life 
has  been  spent  in  promoting  our  highest  and  most 
siicred  interests. 


We  come,  as  a  band  of  brothers,  to  tlo  homage 
to  tliat  parental  love,  of  -which  all  of  us — the  old 
as  well  as  the  young — have  been  the  objects,  and 
by  communing  with  the  spirit  of  our  departed  father, 
to  enkindle  those  hallowed  emotions,  which  are 
the  fittest  offeiing  to  iiis  memory.  But  why  needs 
the  living  speaker  recal  to  your  remembrance,  the 
venerated  and  beloved  being  whose  loss  is  fresh 
in  the  living  memories  of  all  who  hear  me?  We 
stand  not,  it  is  true,  over  his  grave,  as  the  Spartan 
over  the  sepulchre  of  his  King,  but  his  memorials 
present  themselves  to  the  eye  on  every  side,  and 
are  felt  in  every  throbbing  bosom.  The  shady  re- 
treats of  this  consecrated  grove,  the  oft  frequented 
halls  of  this  seat  of  learning,  the  sacred  edifice  in 
which  we  are  assembled,  and  the  very  spot  on 
which  I  stand,  are  memorials  to  awaken  the  busy 
and  thronging  recollections  of  many  a  full  heart. 
^^  Qiiocumque  ingredimuTj  in  aliquam  historiam 
vestigium  'ponimus.'^  I  look  around  this  assem- 
bly and  see  monuments  of  his  love  and  of  his  la- 
bours, such  as  can  never  grace  the  memory  of  the 
warrior,  and  which  throw  contempt  on  all  the 
sculptured  memorials  of  Kings.  I  look  at  the  eyes 
beaming  Avith  intelligence  ;  I  contemplate  the  re- 
fined intellects  ;  I  see  their  rich  fruits,  in  publick 
and  honourable  employment.  I  recall  tlie  memo- 
ry of  otliers  who  are  far  distant,but  whose  thoughts 
arc  minglingwith  ours  on  this  occasion,who  have  car- 
ried with  them  the  seeds  of  virtue  and  wisdom  which 
they  gathered  here,  and, in  other  lands,have  brought 


forth  the  noble  results  of  usefulness  aud  honour- 
able consideration.  I  revert  too^  to  those  wliose 
bright  career  is  ended,  and  who  preceded  their 
guide  and  instructcr  to  the  abodes  of  the  bless- 
ed. I  think  of  all  this,  and  feel  tliat  you  need 
not  the  voice  of  the  speaker,  to  arouse  your  grate- 
ful recollections.  These  ennobled  intellects,  these 
refined  tastes,  these  virtuous  hearts,  tliese  active 
energies,those  happy  spirits,  Mhich,  tliough  gone, 
have  left  behind  them,  "  the  vich  relicks  of  a  well 
spent  life  y^ — these  are  the  monumental  trophies 
of  our  departed  benefactor — and,though  his  vener- 
ated form  is  mouldering  in  the  dust,  his  spirit,  by 
a  species  of  transmigration  more  noble  than  that 
of  Pythagoras,  beams  from  e^i^ry  eye  and  beats  iu 
every  bosom  around  me.  Let  us  then  not  consume 
the  few  moments  allotted  to  the  sacred  recollections 
of  this  occasion,  in  eulogies,  whose  utterance  can 
never  express  the  fulness  of  the  love  and  rever- 
ence of  our  hearts,  but  let  us  with  the  mournful, 
but  proud  interest  of  children,  trace  the  career  of 
our  lost  benefactor  and  friend,  from  its  earliest 
daAvn,  through  all  its  vicissitudes  of  usefulness 
and  beneficence,  to  that  solemn  hour,  when  it  clos- 
ed,amid  the  shadows  of  mortality  it  is  true,  but  leav- 
ing to  his  weeping  friends,the  rich  promise  of  a  bright 
and  glorious  morrow.  We  may  not  expect  to  meet 
with  the  stirring  incidents  that  disfigure  the  annals 
of  the  Warrior  or  the  Statesman;  but  to  iis^  every 
thing  will  be  surrounded  witli  an  interest  hallow- 
ed by  the  most  endearing  associations.  *'  A-iillum 
est  sine  no/ithie  saxiun.'' 
W 


The  mati'Viiai  ancestry  ol'  the  late  President  of 
tiie  Universit}^  may  ]m  trctced  to  one  of  those  nu- 
nicTous  exiles,  who,  upon  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV  in  1684,  were 
compelled  to  leave  their  country,  and  seek  protcc  • 
tion  and  a  liome,  in  other  lands.  One  of  tlie  emi- 
grant families  who  thus  abandoned  their  house- 
hold divinities  and  the  sepulchres  of  their  fathers 
for  conscience  sake,  wasLovELi,.  They  passed 
first  into  Ensjland,  wiiich  offered  a  more  ready 
asylum  to  the  persecuted  Huguenots;  but,  after  re- 
maining a  short  time  in  that  country,  whose  chari- 
ty to  the  exile  and  the  unfortunate,  entitles  her  to 
the  gratitude  of  the  world,  the  head  of  the  Lovell 
family  concluded  to  transplant  himself  to  the  Bri- 
tish Colonies  in  North  America.  With  the  means 
which  he  possessed  and  w  Lich  were  far  from  be- 
ing inconsitlerablc,  he  purchased  an  extensive  pro- 
perty near  tlic  western  extremity  of  Long  Island, 
in  the  present  state  of  New  York.  The  fertility 
of  the  soil,  and  the  capital,  industry  and  enterprise 
of  the  proprietor,  soon  surrounded  Isim  with  all 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life,  and  even 
those  supcrfiuiiit  5,  whicii  w^ere  then,  as  now, 
considered  essential  to  the  respectability  of  tlio 
station  wdiich  he  occupied  in  society.  He  w^as 
a  man  of  strong  mind,  and,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed from  his  history,  of  devoted  l)iety;  though 
this  latter  quality  partook  somewhat  of  the  stern- 
ness, which  characterized  the  Puritans  and  Hu- 
guenots of  that  age.  Ho  brought  up  his  chikUcu  to 


7 

habit*  of  indnslry.  pioly  aiul  ecoiioniy:  Ixit  llioii2;h 
he  licUl  the  reins  of  doinej^tidc   £;ovcrnmeiit  uilh 
a  steady  hand,  a  spirit  of  hnrmony  and  atfectioii, 
constantly  pervaded  the  circle.      The  grandmo- 
ther of  Dr.  Caldwell  was  a  member  of  this  high- 
ly favored  family;  and  she  appreciated  and  richly 
repaid  the  fostering  care  of  her  venerable  parent. 
From  the  great  iniinence  exercised  by  this  excel- 
lent woman  npon   the  yonthful  character  of  her 
grandson^,  as  appears  from   some   notices   left  by 
liim  of  conversations  Avith  her  in  very  early  child- 
hood;  we  may  look  to  the  domestickscliool  of  this 
pions  Huguenot  for  the  gevms  of  much  of  that  ex- 
cellence  which  belonged  to  the  character  of  our 
late  President.    \Quickness  of  decision,  promp- 
titude in  action,  perseverance   in  duty  and   heart- 
felt piety,  characterized  the  venerable  exile,  as  iti 
these  latter  days  we  have  seen  them  in  his  lament- 
ed descendant.     Many  details  are  recorded  in  the 
memoranda  to  which  we  have  referred,  of  tlie  do- 
mestick  disciplina  of  this  exemplary  father,  which 
are  deeply  interesting,   as  revealing  tlie  sources  of 
those  useful  principles  which  have  been  prolifick 
of  so  much  good  to  us  in  this  remote  generation, 
and  as  forcibly  illustrating  tlie  influence,which  one 
faithful  man,  in  the  humble  and  diligent  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  station,  may  be  unconsciously 
exerting  on  the  destinies  of  an  unborn  race.    But 
we  have  been  detained  too  long  already  perhaps, 
and  must  pass  on  to  a  later  date. 

The  dau.^iiter  ah-eady  mentioned,  Uachkl  La- 


'  8     • 

VELL,  "was  married  to  the  Rev.  Mr,  Harker,  a 
Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  of 
Christians,  who  afterwards  settled  with  his  fami- 
ly, in  the  State  of  New  Jersey:  Mr.HARKEK  was 
a  man  of  much  consideration  in  the  neighbourhood 
in  which  he  resided,  and  was  regarded  with  high 
estimation  and  confidence  by  his  congregation. 
His  daughter,  Rachel  HARKER,was  married  ear- 
ly in  life  to  a  Physician, who  was  also  young,  and 
just  commencing  the  practice  of  his  profession. — 
He  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  who  had  emigrated 
from  the  northern  part  of  Ireland,  and  his  name 
was  Joseph  Caldwell.  Of  three  children  born 
of  this  marringe,  tlie  one  who  bore  the  name  of  his 
father,  was  the  youngest.  Dr.  Caldwell,  the 
father,  in  consequence  of  the  rupture  of  a  blood- 
vessel in  his  lungs,  sunk  into  an  early  grave,  after 
a  few  months  illness,  and  before  his  eye  had  ever 
rested  on  liis  youngest  child.  He  died  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1773,  was  interred  on  the  20th,  and  on 
the  21st,  Joseph  Caldwell,  the  subject  of  oui'n 
memoir,  was  born  to  tlie  afflicted  widow.  The 
woes  of  that  period  to  the  young  motlier,must  have 
been  felt  by  her  to  have  reached  an  awful  con- 
summation, through  alarms  often  renewed,  hopes 
disappointed  and  sorrows  protracted  for  months, 
before  the  trying  events  in  which  they  terminated. 
Mrs.  Caldwell  was  still  in  early  life,  and  just 
at  the  season  when  the  prospects  of  her  husband, 
herself,  and  her  young  family  Avere  brightening, 
a  terrible  cloud  suddenly  settled  upon  them,  and 


9 

left  her  in  sorrow  and  widowhood.  But  the  ex- 
cellent principles  Avhich  her  mother  had  imbibed 
from  the  venerable  Huguenot  had  been  faithfully 
instilled  into  the  bosom  of  the  daughter,  and  the 
disastrous  circumstances  in  which  she  was  now 
placed,  instead  of  repressing  her  energies,  only 
served  to  develope  the  excellencies  of  her  char- 
acter. She  took  her  stand  among  tlie  Cornelias 
of  her  age,  and  transmitted  unimpaired  to  her 
children,  the  lioly  legacy  she  had  derived  from 
her  pious  progenitors.  The  death  of  her  husband 
and  the  birth  of  her  youngest  son  occurred  at 
Lamington  in  New  Jersey,  near  Black  River,  a 
branch  of  the  Raritan.  It  will  be  recollected  that, 
a  very  few  years  subsequent  to  the  date  of  these  oc- 
currences, this  particular  locality  became  the  scene 
of  some  of  the  stirring  incidents  of  the  Revolution- 
ary contest;  and  the  influence  of  ^^the  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  glorious  war"'  upon  the  young  mind 
of  Joseph  Caldwell,  was  such  as  we  might  rea- 
dily conceive  from  the  ardour  which  characterized 
even  his  maturer  years.  He  describes  himself  as 
gazing  with  transport  and  a  tide  of  impetuous  feel- 
ing on  the  martial  array  of  the  armed  hosts,  and 
drinking  in  with  excited  passions  the  musick  of 
the  shrill  fife  and  tlie  rattling  drum. 

But  we  may  suppose  these  scenes  were  more 
congenial  to  his  inexperienced  mind,  than  they 
were  to  the  feelings  of  bis  widowed  and  unpro- 
tected mother  ;  and  we  find  that  she  soon  retired 
from  the  confusion  and  exposure  of  the  maritinie 

£ 


10 

country  to  tlte  move  secluded  village  of  Amwelly 
in  the  same  State.  Her  son  was  at  tliis  period  en- 
trusted for  some  time  to  the  care  of  his  grandmo- 
ther, now  far  advanced  in  years  ;  and  in  her  life 
and  conversation  he  found  the  Christian  precepts 
of  his  maternal  roof  exemplified  and  enforced. — 
He  hears  affectionate  testimony  to  ^^the  fidelity  of 
both  his  mother  and  grandmother  in  training  liim 
to  the  knowledge  of  God  and  the  Scriptures,  to 
pious  sentiments  and  religious  duties.*' 

After  the  close  of  the  war,the  family  removed  to 
Bristol,  on  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the  Delaware, 
and  the  younger  son  was  here  for  the  first  time  sent 
to  school.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  results  in  after 
life,  tliat  the  teacher  secured  the  affections  of  his 
young  pupil  in  a  very  eminent  degree,  without  at 
all  abating  any  thing  from  his  requisition  of  close 
diligence  and  attention  to  the  business  of  the  school. 
More  than  half  a  century  subsequently.  Dr. Cald- 
well recurred  to  the  kindness  and  fidelity  of  this 
his  first  instructer,  with  tlic  liveliest  emotions  of 
grateful  recollection,  and  observed  that,  ^^  thouo-h 
lie  was  never  kept  closer  to  business,  his  lieart 
reverted  to  the  period  as  amongst  the  happiest  of'' 
his  life.''  Under  this  faitliful  teacher,  lie  was 
initiated  into  the  study  of  Arithmetick:  and, though 
he  met  with  the  perplexities  and  difficulties  which 
usually  embarrass  the  Tyro,  and  which,  in  his 
case,  seem  to  have  been  near  producing  aversion, 
he  was  encouraged  by  the  affectionate  assiduities 
of   his    preceptor    to     fresh    determination    an4 


II 

courage,  iiiilil  hn  had  suiniountcd  every  ob- 
stacle. Few  of  my  hearers  need  to  be  reminded, 
that  here  he  had  entered  the  vestibule  of  that  sci- 
ence— the  pure  jSIathematics — which  was  the  pas- 
sion of  his  maturer  years  ;  and  we  cannot  avoid 
being  struck  with  the  magnitude  of  the  influence, 
which  a  faithful  and  diligent  teacher  exerts,ia  the 
formation  and  direction  of  the  intellectual  charac- 
ter. The  circumstance,  however,  which  marks 
this  period  of  his  life  with  tlic  most  interest,  is, 
that  he  began  to  turn  his  thougiits  with  great  seri- 
ousness to  the  subject  of  Ilcligion.  A  narrow  es- 
cape from  drowning,  whilst  engaged  at  play  on  a 
Sunday,  without  Ids  mother's  knowledge,  and 
contrary  to  every  precept  of  his  domestick  educa- 
tion, made  on  his  mind  a  deep  impression  after 
lie  recovered  from  the  physical  effects  of  the  acci- 
dent;  and  the  forbearance  of  his  judicious  mo- 
ther, in  refraining  from  adding  by  reproaches  to 
the  remorse  which  his  own  ingenuous  heart  prompt- 
ed, made  a  lasting  imjjression  on  his  affections. — 
For  her  sake,  as  well  as  for  his  own,  he  set  a 
stricter  watch  upon  his  future  conduct;  and  from 
this  period,  we  discover  the  first  developments  of 
those  religious  sensibilities,  which,  though  some- 
times damped  by  the  thoughtlessness  of  his  early 
youth,  were  never  afterwards  wholly  subdued, 
and  finally  took  possession  of  and  gave  character 
to  all  the  faculties  and  affections  of  his  nature. — 
Some  time  after  this  event,  the  family  removed  to 
Princeton,  the  subject  of  our  memoir  being  then 


eleven  years  of  age.     The  fondness  he  had  shewn 
for  books,  and  the  counsel  of  friends,  here  deter- 
mined Mrs.  Caldwell  to  allow  her  son  to  enter 
upon  the  prosecution  of  a  liberal  course  of  educa- 
tion, notwithstanding  the  slenderness  of  her  resour- 
ces,which  alone  induced  any  hesitation  on  the  sub- 
ject.    In  those  primitive  days,  the  seat  of  Nassau 
Hall  did  not  at  all  times,  nor  just  at  this  time,  af- 
ford that  essential  requisite  for  the  young  scholar, 
a,  Latin  Grammar;  and  we  may  well  imagine  that 
the  disappointment  and  delay  consequent  on  this 
circumstance,  heightened  the  eagerness  and  stimu- 
lated the  zeal  of  the  youthful  votary.  At  length  a 
student  from  South-Carolma  offered  one  that  was 
nearly  Avorn  out,  which, after  some  hesitation,  w  as 
accepted,  and  became  the  bond  of  a  long  and  pe- 
culiar friendship.  The  Grammar  was  instantly  and 
eagei'ly  commenced,  and   as    eagerly   prosecuted 
till  tinished.       Corderius    and    other   elementary 
Looks, Caesar  and  Virgil,  the  Greek  Grammar  and 
Testament,  and  some  other  books,  followed  in  as 
quick  succession,  as  intent  application  could  com- 
pass them.     The  Grammar  School  at  Princeton 
was,  at  that  time,  made  an  object  of  special  regu- 
lation and  personal  attention  by  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
the  distinguished  head  of  the  College,  and  it  pos- 
sessed  singular  advantages   in  comparison  with 
otlier  Academies.     Of  this,  our  young  student  was 
made  sensible  by  the  necessity  of  a  change  in  con- 
sequence of  the  removal  of  his  mother  to  Newark. 
Here  his  studies  were  continued  under  the  direc- 


1^ 

tionof  Dr.  McWiiouTEu,who^tlioiigIi  uiidoubiedly 
ail  able  man,  liad  adopted  the  slight  and  superficial 
method  of  instruction,  which  has  since  unhappily 
succeeded  in    almost  externiinatiiig  tlic  more  ri- 
gid system  introduced  by  Br.  Witherspoox  and 
other  Scotch  teachers.     The  acquisitions   he  had 
made  at  tlie  Princeton  School,  indelibly  impressed 
on  his  memory,  placed   him   so   far  ahead  of  his 
Newark  classmates,  as  to  induce  a  relaxation  of 
his  exertions,  and  much  valuable  time  seems,  in 
conseciuence,  to  ha.ve  been  lost.     Another  Provi- 
dential   escape  from  a  violent  and   terrible  death 
at  this  time,  gave  consistency  and  stability  to  those 
religious   principles   whicli   were   fast   gathering 
around  his  heart,   and  manifesting  themselves  in 
the  sobriety  g,nd  correctness  of  his   deportment. — ■ 
Into  the  details  of  his  religious  experience,  I  do 
not  purpose  entering.     An  abler  hand  than  mine 
has  undertaken  the  pious  task.     To  him  I  resign 
it,  and  pass  on  to  other  topics.    In  spite  of  the  dis- 
couragements attending  the  commencement  of  his 
academical  career  at  Newark,  his  fondness  for 
learning    and    mental   occupation   was   followed 
with  the  usual  results.     He  soon  learned  to  sup- 
ply the  deficiences  of  his  instriicter,and  made  once 
more  a  rapid  progress  in  the  acquisition  of  the 
languages.     He  never  experienced  any  thing  like 
reluctance  or  dissatisfaction  in  relinquishing  amuse- 
ment for  study;  and,tliough  full  of  the  vivacity  and 
ardour  of  youth,  was  always  gratified  when  the 
hour  for  recitation  arrived.     These  are  his  own 


II 

words,  and  he  adds:  V' though  I  have  seen  mucli 
of  the  indisposition  of  youth  to  prosecute  knowl- 
edge, when  it  was  put  in  their  power,  and  they 
had  nothing  else  to  do,  I  liave  never  had  such  a 
comprehension  of  aversion  from  it,  as  their  ex- 
perience would  probably  convey. '5  Again  the 
studies  of  this  ardent  votary  of  learning  were  in- 
terrupted, by  the  removal  of  his  mother  to  Eliza- 
bethtown;  where  all  thought  seems  to  have  been 
relinquished,  for  a  wliile,  of  advancing  his  educa- 
tion. This,  doubtless,  Avas  the  consequence  of 
Mrs.  Caldwell's  narrowed  pecuniary  resources; 
as  so  intelligent  a  mother  must  have  already  dis- 
covered her  son's  aptness  for  learning,  and,  witli 
her  principles,  nothing  but  necessity  would  have 
hindered  her  from  placing  within  his  reach,  those 
advantages  which  he  so  much  coveted,and  so  well 
improved. 

When  a  year  or  two  had  passed  in  this  man- 
ner, wholly  wasted  as  to  all  important  acquisition 
in  knowledge  or  culture,  Dr.WiTHERSPOON,  who 
had  known  him — and  must  have  known  him  favour- 
ably— at  Princeton,  passed  througli  Klizabethtown, 
and  took  occasion  to  mention  to  Mrs.  Cald- 
well, the  subject  of  continuing  her  son's  edu- 
cation. He  pressed  her  to  do  so,  and  proffered  to 
aid  in  removing, what  seems  to  have  been  the  only 
impediment,  the  want  of  pecuniary  means,  by  be- 
coming the  young  student's  patron,  and  sustaining 
him  through  a  collegiate  course.  AVe  do  not  know 
whether  in  the  result  it   was  found  necessary  to 


is 

take  advantage  of  the  good  Dot  tor's  kind  and  ClnJ^  - 
tian  oflPer,  but  we  are  doubtless  indebted,  under 
God;  to  his  intcrposition,tliat  the  further  progress 
of  young  Caldwell  in  the  prosecution  of  a  liberal 
education,  was  not  arrested  at  this  stage.  His 
mother,  while^  at  Elizabethtown,  determined  to 
place  him  in  a  Printing  office  to  be  brought  up  to 
that  business;  and  the  son  was  so  much  captiva- 
ted with  the  plan,  and  urged  it  with  so  much  per- 
suasion, that  it  seems  difficult  to  account  for  the 
failure  of  the  project,  ( since  the  Printer  of  the 
town  had  agreed  to  take  him  into  his  Office)  except 
by  referring  it  to  Providential  direction.  He  re- 
garded the  occupation  of  Printing  as  connected  with 
Literary  pursuits,  and  as  contrasted  too,  just  at 
that  time,  with  his  existing  state  of  perfect  idle- 
ness which  galled  his  active  and  vigorous  mind  ; 
and  he  indulged  in  visions  of  an  enlarged  and  lib- 
eral prosecution  of  his  profession.  When  all  pre- 
liminaries had  been  adjusted, and  no  obstacle  seem- 
ed to  oppose  the  consummation  of  the  plan,  Mrs. 
Caldwell's  feelings  revolted  from  the  project, 
though  it  had  originated  with  herself;  and,iu  spite 
of  her  son's  arguments  and  remonstrances  and  ex- 
planations of  the  comprehensive  schemes  he  hoped 
to  push  to  success, she  could  not  be  reconciled,  and, 
the  plan  was  relinc[uished.  Some  other  occupation 
however,  would  doubtless  have  soon  offered,  and 
probably  have  diverted  him  forever  from  the  fur- 
ther prosecution  of  that  career  of  literary  acquisi- 
tion  which  he  had  commenced   so  auspiciously. 


had  not  the  offer  of  Dr.  Witiierspoon  already 
mentioned,  providentially  interposed,  and  given  a 
decided  direction  to  the  tenor  of  his  future  life. 
He  had  just  completed  his  fourteenth  year, when, 
in  the  Spring  of  1787,  he  went  to  Princeton,  and 
after  spending  a  few  months  in  the  Grammar 
School,  entered  the  Freshman  class  of  the  Col- 
lege, in  the  Autumn  of  the  same  year.  He  refers, 
in  after  life,  to  the  period  immediately  suhsequent 
to  this,  as  being  more  productive  of  happiness  than 
any  other  within  his  experience  ;  and  we  can  well 
realize  the  rich  enjoyment  it  afforded  to  a  mind  so 
anxiously  intent  upon  learning,  and  so  well  fitted 
by  previous  culture  for  a  full  appreciation  of 
its  benefits.  In  the  memoranda  which  relate  to 
this  portion  of  his  life,  he  is  careful  to  state,that 
he  owes  no  part  of  the  enjoyments  of  a  College 
life  to  violations  of  the  laws,  or  to  a  departure,  in 
any  respect,  from  the  strictest  rules  of  morality. 
His  experience,  (which  we  may  presume  was 
slender)  of  the  effects  arising  from  such  violations, 
led  him  to  pronounce  them  destructive  alike  of 
happiness  and  of  character — to  be  avoided  by  the 
mere  selfish  seeker  of  present  enjoyment,  as  well 
as  by  the  conscientious  moralist.  '^  If  there  was 
any  pleasure''  he  says,  "  in  the  moments  of  clan- 
destine acts  of  mischief,  it  Avas  so  mixed  in  my 
bosom  with  the  agitations  of  apprehended  discove- 
ry and  dread  of  the  consequences,  that  I  should 
be  far  from  recommending  it,  on  the  score  of  en- 
joyment.    In   all  such  cases,  and  I  thank  God, 


17 

they  were  not  numerous^  as  soon  as  they  were 
over,  the  gloomy  cloud  wli'ich  they  brought  upon 
uiy  feelings,  and  wliich  they  kept  hovering  around 
me  for  many  days,  was  enough  to  decide  most 
unequivocally,  that  much  was  to  be  set  down  on 
the  page,  not  of  profit,  but  of  loss.  The  miseries 
more  or  less,  which,  in  compliant:e  with  solicita- 
tion, I  sometimes  consented  to  inflict  on  myself, 
were  only  a  portion  of  the  consequent  suffering. — 
They  have  never  returned  upon  me,  but  with  pain 
and  mortification,  their  unfailiisg  retribution  when 
they  have  been  resuscitated  in  my  remembrance." 
Such  testimony  from  one  whose  departures  from 
College  discipline,  if  we  may  form  any  opinion 
from  his  previous  life,  must  have  been  of  small 
moment,  is  calculated  to  sink  deep  into  the  minds 
i)f  the  young;  and  doubtless,  for  their  sakes,  lie 
recorded  it.  Under  that  impression,  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  repeat  it.  here,  as  aiding  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  benevolent  purpose.  During  the  whole 
period  of  his  College  life,  his  habits  were  marked 
with  diligence,  punctuality,  and  the  good  will  of 
his  Teachers,  with  the  habitual  satisfaction  which 
is  the  necessary  consequence  of  them.  His  feel- 
ings towards  tlic  Faculty  of  the  College,  as  indi- 
cated by  his  exterior  deportment,  were  habitually 
respectful  and  ingenuous,  and  with  his  fellow  stu- 
dents, he  seems  to  Iiave  been  held  in  high  estima- 
tion and  regard.  While  residing  at  Princeton,  he 
was,  on  two  occasions,  in  immiueut  hazard  of  death 
by  drowning ;  having  in  one   case  exposed   him- 


18 

self  to  the  danger,  in  attempting  to  save  the  life  of 
a  friend  with  whom  he  was  bathing.  Allusion  is 
made  to  these  and  to  other  similar  escapes,  because 
they  were  regarded  by  himself  as  Providentially 
sent,to  keep  ever  before  him  a  sense  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  human  life,  and  to  preserve  alive  in  his 
licart  that  sensibility  to  llcligious  obligation  which 
so  early  distinguished  his  character.  Tiie  danger 
to  which  his  Christian  principles  were  exposed  at 
this  time,  arose  from  the  absorbing  delight  with 
Avhich  he  prosecuted  his  studies  ;  but  his  watch- 
fulness was  nearly  commensurate  with  the  strength 
of  his  temptations  ;  and  the  startling  Providences 
to  which  we  have  alluded,  carried  him  through  this 
ensnaring  period  of  his  life,  if  not  without  the  oc- 
casional misgivings  of  his  sensitive  conscience,  cer- 
tainly without  any  obvious  departure  from  the 
Christian  propriety,  which  had  now  distinguished 
him  for  several  years.  His  intercourse  witli  all 
around  him  was  characterized  by  manly  and  Chris- 
tian principles,  and  the  delight  which  he  took  iu  his 
studies,the  pleasures  of  growing  knowledge,and  the 
gratification  of  success  in  his  recitations  and  the 
public  examinations,  acted  upon  his  ardent  and 
vivacious  temperament,  so  as  to  produce  in  his 
general  deportment  the  outward  indications  of  the 
highest  degree  of  contentment  and  happiness. 

After  a  connexion  of  four  years  and  a  half  uith 
the  Institution  at  Princeton,  Mil.  Caldwell  was 
graduated  in  the  Autumn  of  1791,  being  then  iu 
the  19th  year  of  his  age.    Among  the  exercises  ap- 


1*J 

pointed  for  his  class  at  the  Coiumcticemeut;  tlie 
Salutatory  Oration  in  Latin^  was  assigned  to  iiim. 
The  first  moments  of  his  discnthralment  from 
the  rules  and  responsibilities  of  a  College  life  were, 
as  perliaps  is  always  the  case,  moments  of  rich  en- 
joyment and  gorgeous  anticipation ;  but  the  circum- 
stance of  having  no  definite  object  before  him  to 
give  direction  to  his  movements^  and  that  he  had  to 
rely  solely  on  his  own  energies  for  the  means  of  sup- 
port^as  well  as  for  honorable  distinction  in  the  world, 
soon  checked  the  excess  of  his  delight  and  indu- 
ced a  feeling  approaching  to  despondency.  Such 
a  natural  bond  is  there  between  true  merit  and  mo- 
desty, that  we  see  this  vigorous  and  active  mind, 
accustomed  to  success  in  all  its  previous  pursuits 
and  well  stored  with  all  the  elements  of  future  tri- 
umph in  its  collisions  with  the  world,  shrinking 
at  the  view  of  those  prospects  which  his  approach- 
ing manhood  was  opening  to  him,  A  year  or  two 
was  lost  in  this  state  of  indecision  and  timidity, 
aftcrv/ards  deeply  regretted,  as  a  lost  opportunity 
of  adding  to  those  stores  of  wisdom  so  highly  prized, 
and,  in  a  later  day,  so  prolific  of  happiness  to  him- 
self and  of  usefulness  to  the  v\^orld.  After  spend- 
ing some  time  in  idleness  or  little  better  with  his 
mother,  to  whose  house  he  had  returned,  he  grew 
weary  of  it,  though  still  at  a  loss  in  what  occupa- 
tion to  engage.  His  mother  having  removed  to 
Black  River  and  settled  or  a  farm  which  had  be- 
longed to  his  grandfather,  he  found  himself  cutoff 
from  society  congenial  to  his  cultivated  tastes,  and 


30 

being  fitted  for  none  of  those  Liborious  employments 
ill  which  all  aronnd  liim  were  engaged^  lie  felt  as  if 
he  had  become  a  burden  to  his  friends.    Under  this 
state  of  feeling,  he  readily  embraced  a  suggestion 
made  to  hiuij  to  take  charge  of  the  education  of  a 
few  boys  in  tlie  neighbourhood,  Avho  wanted  in- 
struction in  the  languages.     Though  he  regarded 
the  employment  as  an  humble  business,  he  gladly 
undertook   it  as  a  refuge  from  the  irksomeness  of 
total  inaction  and  the  apprehension  of  uselessness, 
so  oppressive  to  his  sensitive  mind.     In  the  dis- 
charge of  tlic  duties  of  this  obscure,  but  honorable 
occupation,  he  returned  with  renewed  dellglit    to 
liis  communion  with  the  Classick  Authors,   and 
as   is   ever   the  case   with   the    true   worshipper 
at   their   shrine,    took  unceasing    satisfaction    in 
unfolding  their  beauties  to  the  expanding  minds  of 
his  young  pupils.    He  felt  however  that  the  sphere 
in  which  he  moved  was  not  commensurate  with 
his  powers,  or  with  the  expectations  of  his  friends, 
and  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  a  more  extended  field 
of  usefulness.  At  length,  after  some  months  devo- 
tion to  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  his  humble 
employment  at  Black  lliver,  an  intimation  readied 
him  that  his  services  as  an  Assistant  Teacher  would 
be  accepted  at  Elizabethtown.     No  hesitation  was 
felt  in  accepting  the  invitation,  and  he  entered  im- 
mediately upon  his  new  engagements.     At  Eliza- 
bethtown his  studies  were  continued,  and  the  op- 
portunities of  a  polished  community  and  literary 
society  were  relished  more  exquisitely,   after  the 


tedious  seclusion  he  liad  suiTorcd.  Tlie  privileir^cs 
of  living  under  a  Ministry  and  in  a  congregation 
"where  Religion  was  higlily  estimated  and  its  im- 
pressions deeply  felt;,  proved  the  means  of  turning 
his  thoughts  and  affections  witli  more  intensity  on 
that  subject;  and  the  result  was,  that  the  question 
of  aProfessioUj  which  had  never  yet  been  decided, 
terminated  in  a  conclusion  to  commence  a  course 
of  studies  for  the  Sacred  Ministry,  "With  much 
diffidence  and  apprehension,  Mii.  Caldwell  en- 
tered on  the  prosecution  of  those  subjects  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  Hev.  David  Austin,  the 
Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  in  the 
Town.  He  refers  to  the  personal  kindness  and 
encouragement  received  from  Mr.  Austin,  *^^with 
feelings  of  the  deepest  and  most  affectionate  grati- 
tude.-' 

Some  months  after  his  commencing  the  study  of 
Theology,  it  was  proposed  to  him  to  undertake  the 
instruction  of  an  Academy  at  Springfield.  He 
was  inclined  to  close  with  the  proposition,  and  was 
l)reparing  to  do  so,  when  a  letter  reached  him  from 
Dr.  Smith  of  Princeton,  offering  him  the  appoint- 
ment to  a  Tutorship  in  the  College  at  that  place. 
AYith  the  full  approbation  of  the  gentlemen  at 
Springfield  with  whom  he  was  in  negotiation, 
though  they  regretted  their  own  disappointment, 
he  concluded  to  accept  the  invitation  to  Princeton, 
and  accordingly  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  Tu- 
torship in  April  1795,  having  then  just  comple- 
ted his  22d  year.     Upon  removing  to  the  College, 


he  instantly  began  to  feci  the  vast  difference  be- 
tween t!ic  privileges  of  a  Student  in  a  place  where 
science  and  literatnre  were  the  professional  occu- 
pation of  all  aronnd  him,  and  those  of  one  abroad 
in  the  world;, where  the  prosecntion  of  those  objects 
was  nnsupported  by  a  commnnity  of  feelings  and 
interests.  We  can  well  conceive;,  how  his  active 
and  enquiring  mind  luxuriated  in  the  advantages 
which  his  situation  now^  afforded.  13ent  upon  ac- 
quiring as  great  attainments  as  he  could  compass 
and  qualifying  himself  liberally  for  his  profession, 
he  was  happy  in  expatiating  upon  classick  ground, 
and  desired  nothing  beyond  the  privileges  he  en- 
joyed. His  time  was  principally  occupied  in  giv- 
ing critical  perfection,  as  far  as  possible,  to  his 
knowledge  of  the  Classical  Authors,  in  which  it 
was  his  business  to  give  instruction.  This  was 
at  once  his  duty  and  his  delight ;  but  it  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  he  was  unmindful,  even  at  this 
early  period,  of  other  duties  appertaining  to  the 
station  he  occupied.  The  part  of  a  Tutor's  of- 
fice, which  consists  in  aiding  the  government  of 
the  College,  was  to  him  the  occasion  of  much  so- 
licitude and  trial  of  feeling  ;  but  with  that  consci- 
entious rectitude  which  marked  his  whole  life,  he 
did  not  shrink  from  what  was  right  because  it 
was  painful.  To  us  who  have  known  him  at  a 
far  later  day,  when  authority  sat  upon  his  brow 
as  on  its  native  seat,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  the 
reluctance  and  disgust  which  accompanied  his  first 
essays  in  this  department  of  his  office.     His  feel- 


93 

ings  were  delicate  and  sensitive,  aiul  received  ma- 
ny an  acute  wound,  while  lie  faithfully  acted  u[> 
to  his  sense  of  duty.  Forbearance,  cordial  soli- 
citude for  the  real  welfare  of  the  young  whose 
tuition  was  entrusted  to  him,  and  unremitting  fi- 
delity to  the  obligations  binding  him  to  the  In- 
stitution, distinguished  him  through  the  whole 
term  of  his  service  at  Princeton,  securing  the  ap- 
probation and  esteem  of  all  his  associates,  and  fit- 
ting him  for  that  more  extended  field  of  usefulness 
upon  which  he  was  soon  about  to  enter. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  period  when  the  inci- 
dents of  Mr.  Caldwell's  life  assume  to  us  a  mor6 
interesting  character,  from  the  relation  they  have 
to  ourselves.  A  very  brief  notice  of  the  early  cir- 
cumstances of  the  University  of  North  Carolina^ 
may  not  be  misplaced  or  deemed  impertinent  licrc, 
as  Mr.  Caldwell's  connexion  witli  it  began  in 
its  infancy.  The  act  of  Corporation  was  past  in 
1789;  but  little  efficient  aid  was  given  by  the  Le- 
gislature of  the  State  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  the  undertaking.  Grants  of  escheated  property 
and  of  certain  monies  due  to  the  State,  and  subse- 
quently,of  all  confiscated  property,  were  made;  but 
of  tliis  latter  source  of  revenue,  the  Trustees  were 
soon  afterwards  divested,  and  the  others  were  ne- 
ver very  productive,  except  in  Western  Lands,  the 
value  of  which  remained  for  a  long  time  little  more 
than  nominal,  though  at  this  day  constituting  a 
splendid  endowment.  Private  munificence  com- 
pensated the  tardiness  of  the  publick  benefactions. 


S4 

Gov.  Benjamin  Smith  made  a  donation  of  20,000 
acres  of  land ;  Major  Cmx\.rles  Girard  hequeath- 
ed  13,000  acres,  and  numerous  contributions  in 
money  were  made  tlirougliout  tlie  State,  which  en- 
abled the  Trustees  to  commence  the  buildings  ne- 
cessary for  the  accommodation  of  the  students. — 
But  all  these  resources  together  were  not  com- 
mensurate witli  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprize; 
and  the  College  struggled  tlirough  a  very  feeble  in- 
fancy for  several  years,  until  a  development  of  its 
resources  and  the  zeal  and  energy  of  its  friends, 
brought  it  to  a  condition  of  more  maturity  and  sta- 
bility. The  labours  and  constantly  increasing 
reputation  of  Mr.  Caldwell,  were  instrumental, 
in  no  small  degree,  in  effecting  this  result ;  and 
he  was  permitted  to  live  to  see  our  Institution 
rising  from  the  humble  condition  of  a  mere  Gram- 
mar School,  progressively  through  all  the  succes- 
sive gradations  of  usefulness  and  respectability, 
to  the  high  and  honorable  station  which  it  now  occu- 
pies among  the  Universities  of  the  land.  May  I  be 
pardoned  for  adverting  here  to  one  article  in  the 
Act  of  Incorporation,  which  seems  to  have  been 
nugatory,  from  the  limitation  as  to  the  time  annex- 
ed to  it,  but  the  purpose  of  which  might  still  be 
partly  carried  into  effect  in  perfect  consistency 
with  its  original  design.  It  was  enacted  that  six 
of  the  Halls,  attached  to  the  College  precincts, 
should  bear  the  names  of  the  six  individuals  who, 
within  four  years,  should  be  the  largest  contribu- 
ims  to  the  funds  of  the  institution.      It  is  proba- 


2S 

ble,  that  with  the  exception  of  Gov.  Smith's,  tliere 
were  not  within  that  period  any  benefactions  of 
such  an  amount  as  to  warrant  the  Trustees  in  giv- 
ing effect  to  this  provisional  act  of  gratitude;  but 
the  magnitude  of  one  subsequent  benefaction,  at 
least,  may  Avell  redeem  it  from  the  penalty  annex- 
ed to  its  tardiness.  Of  the  five  buildings  consti- 
tuting our  present  accommodations,  the  one  in 
which  we  are  assembled  does  honor  to  tlie  name 
of  one  contributor,  and  an  unfinished  building,  de- 
signed also  for  a  Chapel,  serves  as  a  monument 
to  tlie  memory  of  another.  The  others  are  yet  un- 
appropriated, and,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  largest  of  them,to  funds  accu- 
mulated from  individual  donations  by  the  active 
exertions  and  persevering  industry  of  our  late  la- 
mented President.  He  has  been  our  most  munifi- 
cent benefactor,  and  to  him  should  be  awarded  the 
liighest  meed  of  honour. 

The  business  of  Education  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  Avas  commenced  in  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1795  ;  Mr.  Hinton  James  of  Wil- 
mington, the  first  Student,  having  arrived  here  on 
the  12th  day  of  February  of  that  year.  The  first 
Instructer  was  the  Rev.  David  Kerr,  a  Graduate 

of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  assisted  by  Mr.  

Holmes,  in  the  Preparatory  Department.  Very 
shortly  afterwards,  the  Professorship  of  Mathe- 
maticks  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Charles  Harris,  of  Iredell  County,  and  a  Gra- 
duate of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,     It  was  not 

4 


so 

the  intention  of  Mr.  Hakris  to  eng^age  permanent- 
ly in  the  business  of  Instruction,  his  views  being 
directed  to  the  Profession  of  the  Law;  and  when 
he  accepted  tlie  Professorship,  it  was  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  he  was  to  relinquish  it  at  tlie  ex- 
piration of  one  year.  Mr.  Hakuis, while  at  Prince- 
ton, had  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Mr;  Cald- 
well, but  their  personal  intercourse  was  so  slight, 
that  the  latter  scarcely  remembered  that  he  had 
ever  seen  him.  His  recommendation  of  Mr. 
CALDWELL,therefore,  as  his  successor,  is  a  proof 
of  the  high  estimation  in  which  the  latter  was  held 
by  all  who  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  him, 
and  is  a  forcible  illustration  of  the  influence  wliich 
undeviatiug  rectitude  and  close  attention  to  the  du- 
ties of  their  station  exercise  over  the  future  desti- 
nies of  the  young. 

To  the  penetration  of  Mr.  Harris,  and  his  agen- 
cy in  filling  the  Professorship  vacated  by  himself, 
with  so  competent  a  successor,  the  present  and  fu- 
ture generations  of  Nortli  Carolinians  will  owe  an 
eternal  debt  of  gratitude.  The  letter  to  Mr. 
Caldwell,  enquiring  Avhether  he  would  accept 
the  Professorship  of  Mathematicks,  reached  him 
while  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  his  Tutorship 
at  Princeton,  and  employing  such  a  portion  of  his 
time  as  could  be  spared  from  his  more  immediate 
business,  in  fitting  himself  for  the  Ministerial  of- 
fice. The  invitation,  being  unsolicited,  was  unex- 
pected, and  found  hiinwlioUy  unprepared  with  an 
answer.     The  question  was  referred  to  his  friends, 


wlio  wvYC.  supposed  I)y  him  to  be  better  judges  than 
himself.  They  advised  liim  to  accept  the  offer; 
and,  as  it  was  flattering  to  his  own  feelings,  and 
presented  a  prospect  of  a  respectable  and  perma- 
nent income,  he  yielded  to  their  advice^^and  accor- 
dingly signilicd  to  Mr.  Harris  his  determination 
to  accept  the  Professorship,  if  it  should  be  offered 
liim  by  the  Trustees  of  the  College.  The  appoint- 
ment was  made  by  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  Board, 
and  Mr.  Caldwell,  after  being  admitted  to  the 
Ministry  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  left  Prince- 
ton in  the  beginning  of  September  1796,  for  his 
journey  to  tlie  south.  While  passing  through  Phil- 
adelphia, he  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  pulpit  of 
J)r.  AsHBEL  GrREEN,  and  made  so  favorable  an 
impression,  that  inducements  were  held  out  to  him 
to  remain  in  the  City,  Avith  a  view  of  taking  charge 
of  a  Congregation  there.  By  the  advice  of  Df. 
Oreen,  he  at  once  rejected  the  proposal  and  pur- 
sued his  way  to  North  Carolina.  At  the  time  that 
Mr.  Caldwell  became  connected  with  the  Uni- 
versity, its  pretensions  were  very  luimble.  h% 
consecpience  of  the  slender  patronage  extended  to 
it  in  its  infancy,  it  was  more  than  five  years, 
as  we  liave  seen,  after  the  act  of  incorporation  was 
passed,  before  the  business  of  Instruction  was  com- 
menced. A  single  building  of  two  stories,  was  the 
only  edifice,  and  that  was  occupied  in  part  by  the 
Preparatory  ^School.  Two  Instructors  only  were 
employed,  and  the  sca.le  of  studies  was  exceeding- 
ly contracted  when  considered  as  the  course  pre- 


scribed  by  a  University.  Throughout  the  whole 
establishment,  there  was  much  to  try  the  feelings 
and  exercise  the  patience  of  those  to  wliom  was 
entrusted  the  task  of  maintaining  its  discipline  and 
communicating  instruction.  The  population  of  the 
country  was  in  general  rude  and  uncultured,  to  a 
degree  of  which  one,  who  has  not  marked  the  pro- 
gress of  the  change,  will  find  it  difficult  to  conceive. 
TJie  young  men,bringing  to  this  place  the  sentiments 
and  manners  which  they  had  received  from  the  as- 
sociates of  their  earlier  days,were  but  ill-prepared 
for  that  quiet  devotion  to  the  pursuits  of  litera- 
ture and  science,  without  which,  the  apparatus  of 
Professors  and  Libraries  and  other  facilities  for 
acquiring  knowledge,  can  be  of  little  avail.  Among 
the  early  associates  too  of  Mr.  Caldwell,  were 
some  of  loose  principles  and  correspondiug  habits, 
who  threw  additional  obstacles  in  his  way.  For 
these  reasons,  the  early  part  of  his  connexion  with 
the  University  was  to  him  a  scene  of  severe  suffer- 
ing and  trial ;  and  he  seems  at  first  to  have  been 
ready  to  yield  to  the  promptings  of  his  natural  in- 
clination,and  to  have  retired  from  the  turmoils  and 
perplexities  of  his  situation,  to  the  less  responsi- 
ble and  arduous,  though  hiiuibler  station  he  had 
left.  A  record  is  found  on  the  Journal  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  at  that  period,  of  the  resigna- 
tion of  his  appointment ;  but  he  was  induced  to 
withdraw  it  immediately,  and  to  continue  at  Iiis 
unpleasant,  but  honourable  post.  He  tlien  nerved 
himself  with  fresh  resolution  to  encounter  the  dif- 


d0 

ficulties  wliich  lay  in  liis  patli,  aiul,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  ail  untiring  devotion  and  unshaken  fideli- 
ty, aided  by  a  resolution  and  decision  of  charac- 
ter, which,  though  not  wholly  natural,  could  not 
be  daunted,  lie  at  length  brought  the  unformed 
mass  to  a  degree  of  order  and  respectability,  which 
none  can  fully  appreciate  but  the  associates  and 
successors  to  his  labours.  In  the  formation  of 
his  character  as  the  presiding  Officer  of  an  Insti- 
tution in  which  were  thus  met  the  wildest  elements 
of  insubordination,  we  sec  a  striking  illustration, 
of  the  effects  of  an  unwavering  determination  to 
walk  in  whatever  path  duty  may  point  out.  To 
us,  who  have  witnessed  the  exercise  of  this  char- 
acter in  its  full  vigour  and  efficiency,  it  is  scarce- 
ly credible, how  much  it  was  a  formation  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  situation,  united  to  a  conscien- 
tious resolution  to  make  himself  useful  and  hono- 
rable in  the  station  he  occupied.  Yet  we  have 
the  best  reasons  for  knowing,  that,  in  incipient 
manhood,  he  shrunk  from  every  thing  like  stern- 
ness and  the  rigid  enforcement  of  authority,  and 
was  much  in  the  habit  of  looking  to  others  to  de- 
termine for  him  in  difficult  emergencies.  His  ca- 
reer at  Princeton,  it  is  true,  had  somewhat  bro- 
ken in  upon  this  gentleness  of  disposition;  but 
the  situation  of  a  subordinate  officer  of  a  Ions  es- 
tablished  College, was  Avidely  different  from  that 
of  the  head  of  an  Institution  such  as  ours  was  in 
its  infancy,  and  called  for  the  exercise  of  very  dif- 
ferent principles.     After  seeing  and  clearly  esti- 


30 

mating  what  his  new  station  demanded  of  him,  he 
shook  oif  every  opposing  habit  and  feeling,  and 
gave  himself  up  with  a  noble  resolution,  to  a  faith- 
ful and  diligent  discharge  of  its  duties.  How  well 
he  has  fulfilled  this  resolution,  will  be  attested  by 
many  a  grateful  heart  in  this  assembly,  and  many 
a  sympathizing  bosom  throughont  our  State. 

During  the  first  nine  years  of  its  existence,  no 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  University  was  distin- 
guished by  the  title  of  President.  In  1804,  Mr. 
Caldwell,  who  had  for  some  time  been  the  pre- 
siding officer,  and  who  at  all  times  subsequent  to 
liis  introduction  into  the  Faculty,  had  been  its 
master  spirit,  was  elected  to  the  Presidency.  He 
liad  then  been  recently  married  to  Miss  Susan 
Motvany  of  whom  he  was  deprived  three  years  af- 
terwards by  deatli,  as  well  as  of  an  infant  daugh- 
ter, the  only  fruit  of  the  marriage.  He  was  again 
married  in  1809,  to  Mvs. Hooper, who  survives  him. 
The  limits  prescribed  me  on  this  occasion,  would 
not  admit  of  any  extended  detail  of  the  incidents 
of  the  period  of  Mr.  Caldwell's  life  subsequent 
to  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency,  if  indeed  it  were 
necessary;  but  they  are  best  known  from  their  re- 
sults, so  lichly  scattered  over  the  whole  face  of 
'  our  land,  and  so  manifest  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  our  Institution  now  stands,  as  contrasted 
with  its  feebleness  and  immaturity  when  first  con- 
fided to  his  fostering  care.  After  the  first  few 
years  of  his  Presidency,  the  reputation  of  the  Uni- 
versity, continually  advancing,  attracted  so  many 


students,  that  the  want  of  enlarged  means  of  accom- 
modating them  became  very  urgent;  and  the  build- 
ing now  known  as  the  South  buildingj  much  the 
most  spacious  of  all  we  have,  and  containing  the 
Library  rooms  and  other  Publick  Halls,  Avas  com- 
menced and  prosecutcd,for  some  time,with  vigour. 
But  the  Legislature  having  witlidrawn  the  bounty 
it  had  before  extended,  and  divested  the  Trustees 
of  some  of  the  sources  of  revenue  originally  assign- 
ed to  the  use  of  the  University,  left  them  under 
the  necessity  of  suspending  the  prosecution  of  this 
work,  and  leaving  it  in  a  condition  unfit  for  any 
useful  application.  Two  years  longer  the  incon- 
venience of  narrow  accommodations  was  submitted 
to ;  but  the  still  increasing  number  of  students 
caused  the  want  of  the  additional  building  to  be- 
come more  and  more  pressing.  At  lengtli  Mr. 
Caldwell,  whose  interest  in  the  Institution  was 
never  confined  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  du- 
ties of  his  peculiar  office,  requested  of  the  Trus- 
tees permission  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  liberali- 
ty of  the  friends  of  education  throughout  the  State. 
Nor  did  he  appropriate  to  this  business,  any  por- 
tion of  his  time  required  by  his  more  immediate 
duties.  During  the  six  weeks  vacation  of  the  sum- 
mer of  1811,  he  visited  such  parts  of  the  State  as 
were  within  his  reach,  and  having  headed  the  sub- 
scription  list  with  his  own  name  and  a  liberal  do- 
nation, he  obtained  the  sum  of  812,000.  TJiis 
liberal  contribution  enabled  the  Trustees  to  push 
tlie  work  on  to  completion  and  thus  to  secure  that 


>€» 


patronngCjV.iiic  li  in  all  likclihood.Avould  have  been 
soon  witlulrawnj  in  consequence  of  actual  want  of 
room.  This  well  timed  relief  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  the  progress  of  tlie  Institution  in  puhlick  favour, 
until  additional  buildings  were  once  more  needed 
for  the  reception  of  students.  But  the  resources 
of  the  Trustees  had  then  become  more  ample,  and 
more  sufficient  to  provide  all  the  required  accom- 
modations. Having  removed  this  impediment 
wliich  so  seriously  threatened  the  prosperity, if  not 
the  very  existence  of  the  University,  and  having 
seen  it  guoAV  up  from  the  humble  condition  in  which 
he  found  it  to  respectability  and  usefulness,  Mr. 
Caldwell  thought  that,without  hazarding  the  in- 
terests of  the  Institution, he  might  now  yield  to  the 
inclination  which  had  never  left  him,  of  devoting 
more  time  and  attention  to  study  than  the  duties  of 
the  Presidency  allowed  him,  and  accordingly,  in 
1812  lie  resigned  his  situation,  and  returned  to  the 
Mathematical  Chair.  Apart,  however,  from  the 
preference  which  he  felt  and  thus  indulged,  of  de- 
voting himself  to  the  task  of  instruction  rather  than 
of  direction  and  discipline,  he  was  contemplating 
the  execution  of  a  Literary  labour  in  which  he  took 
much  interest,  and  which  remains  as  a  monument 
of  his  skill  in  adapting  the  details  of  an  abstruse 
science  to  the  comprehension  of  the  young.  I  al- 
lude to  his  work  on  Geometry,  which,  though  not 
published  for  some  years  afterwards, engaged  much 
of  his  attention  and  time  during  the  interval  which 
elapsed  between  his  retirement  from  the  Presiden- 


cy  and  his  reluctant  resumption  of  it  in  1817. 
The  subject  is  one  which,  in  the  ablest  hands,  does 
not  at  the  present  day  admit  of  much  that  is  strict- 
ly original.  The  most  skilful  mathematician  who 
underlcakes  a  work  of  this  kind,  must  content  him- 
self with  moulding  into  new  forms  the  materials 
handed  down  to  him  by  writers  of  other  times,  and 
with  iutroduciiig  occasionally  a  demonstration  that 
is  new,  more  lucid,  or  more  direct  and  brief.  The 
object  proposed  by  Mr.  Caldwell  in  this  publi- 
cation, was  to  produce  a  system  less  extended  and 
tedious  than  that  of  Euclid^  but  comprising  all  the 
capital  propositions  of  that  Geometer,  and  retain- 
ing,throughout  his  strict  and  rigid  methods  of  de- 
monstration— an  object  which  he  will  be  allowed 
by  all  competent  judges  to  have  well  and  liappily 
accomplished.  Upon  his  resignation  of  the  Pre- 
sidency, Dr.  Robert  Chapman  was  selected  by 
the  Trustees  as  his  successor.  After  holding  the 
office  for  five  years,  Dr.  Chapman  retired  in  1817, 
and  Dr.  Caldwell  was  induced  to  resume  the  si- 
tuation, which  he  continued  to  hold  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  thongh  not  without  making  ef- 
forts to  resign  it.  The  distinguished  success 
which  attended  his  labours  did  not  fail  to  attract 
attention  from  abroad,  as  it  excited  the  admiration 
and  gratitude  of  the  friends  of  the  University  at 
home.  In  1816,  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  his  alma  mater,  conferred  on  him, 
by  an  unanimous  vote,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity.  And  subsequently  inducements  were  held 
5 


out  to  him  by  at  least  two  respectable  Colleges  to 
change  his  situation  ;  but  he  clung  to  our  College 
■\vitli  a  paternal  devotion,  commensurate  with  the 
obligations  it  owed  him;  and, with  a  determination 
which  appears  to  liave  been  formed  very  soon  after 
his  first  connexion  with  it,  he  resisted  every  attempt 
to  draw  liim  to  a  more  lucrative  appointment. 

After  his  re-appointment  to  the  Presidency,  he 
pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  dispensing  in- 
tellectual and  moral  good  tlirough  all  our  borders. 
One  event,  with  its  auspicious  consequences,  will 
detain  us  a  few  moments,  before  we  come  reluc- 
tantly to  til  at  solemn  period,  when  the  shadows  of 
the  grave  began  to  gather  over  liis  bright  and  be- 
iiificent  career.  The  Trustees  having  determined 
to  add  to  the  facilities  for  improvement  already  en- 
joyed by  the  students  of  the  University,  a  Philo- 
sophical apparatus  and  additional  volumes  for 
the  Library,  Dr.  Caldwell,  entrusting  the  tem- 
porary supervision  of  the  College  to  the  Senior 
Professor  who  deservedly  possessed  his  and  the 
publick's  entire  confidence,  visited  Europe,  in  or- 
der to  direct  in  person  the  construction  of  the  ap- 
paratus, and  the  selection  of  the  books.  He  sail- 
ed from  this  country  in  the  Month  of  April  1824, 
and  landing  at  Liverpool,  proceeded  immediately 
to  London  to  accomplish  the  object  of  his  voyage. 
After  having  put  the  business  in  a  train  that  pro- 
mised to  lead  to  its  speedy  completion,  he  passed 
over  into  France  ;  and  traversing  that  country,  by 
the  route  of  Paris  and  Lyons,   after  visiting  the 


35 

LoA\  ci-  Alps,  passed  llirougli  the  Western  part  of 
Switzerland  into  Germany,  and  proceeded  down 
the  lihine  as  far  as  Frankfort,  wiience  he  return- 
ed to  London.  Subsequently,  he  visited  Scotland; 
and  at  length  returned  t.o  tiiis  country,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  ten  montlis.  The  fidelity  and  skill  with 
which  he  discharged  the  trust  confided  to  liini  by 
tlie  Trustees,  are  abundantly  attested  by  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  apparatus  winch  now  occupies  our 
Lecture  rooms,  and  by  the  value  of  the  addition 
made  to  our  liibrary.  But  far  tlie  most  interest- 
ing result  of  liis  visit  to  Europe,  was  the  strong 
feeling  excited  in  iiis  mind  on  tiie  subject  of  Inter- 
nal Improvement — a  subject,  which  perhaps  en- 
grossed more  of  his  thoughts  during  some  of  the 
last  years  of  his  life,  than  any  thing  else  connect- 
ed with  this  world.  The  sound  practical  views 
which  he  entertained  on  the  introduction  of  this 
system  into  our  own  State,  and  which  arc  ably 
and  clearly  set  forth  in  the  numbers  of  Carlton^ 
have  commanded  the  admiration  of  every  enlight- 
ened citizen ;  and  the  zeal  with  which  he  advo- 
cated it  on  every  suitable  occcasion,  and  long  after 
disease  had  impaired  the  enej'gies  of  his  body, 
must  secure  him  the  lasting  gratitude  of  every  true 
friend  of  his  country.  It  is  well  known,  that  the 
magnificent  project  of  a  Kail-road  to  reach  from 
Beaufort  to  the  mountains,  originated  with  him, 
and  was  advocated  with  such  ability  as  to  have 
rendered  it  a  favorite  measure  of  State  policy  with 
some  of  the  most  enlightened  and  devoted  patriots 
of  our  land. 


S6 

The  first  access  of  the  disease  by  which  J)r. 
Caldwell's  life  was  finally  brought  to  a  close^ 
occurred  in  1828  or  '29;  after  which  period,  as  he 
states  in  a  note  made  in  1831,  he  was  never  in  the 
enjoyment  of  good  health.  Nearly  the  whole  of 
the  six  or  seven  years  wliich  elapsed  before  the 
termination  of  his  sufferings,  was  a  period  of  un- 
remitted uneasiness  ;  durir.g  a  considerable  part 
of  it,  his  bodily  sufferings  were  severe,  and  often, 
he  "was  the  victim  of  excrutiatingpain.  He  seldom 
spoke  on  the  subject  even  to  his  most  intimate 
friends;  and  having  a  singular  power  of  subduing 
and  controlling  his  emotions,  he  would  of(en  wear 
upon  his  countenance  a  calmness  and  serenity, 
that  indicated  to  a  stranger,  an  enjoyment  of  the 
blessings  of  existence;  wlien,  to  those  better  ac- 
quainted with  him,  it  would  be  revealed  by  some 
involuntary  movement,that  this  appearance  of  ease 
and  comfort, was  not  maintained  witliout  a  power- 
ful struggle.  But  the  triumph  which  disease  was 
thus  achieving  over  the  body,  did  not, till  the  very 
last  hours  of  his  existence,  extend  to  the  fa^culties 
of  his  mind,  or  impair,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the 
devotedness  of  the  interest  with  which  he  cherish- 
ed the  Institution, that  for  so  many  years  had  been 
the  object  of  his  fostering  care.  It  is  true,  that 
within  the  last  two  years  of  his  life,  when  acute 
and  unceasing  suffering  disabled  him  from  taking 
his  wonted  share  in  the  business  of  instruction,  he 
proffered  to  the  Trustees  the  resignation  of  his  of- 
fice of  President;  but  it  was  under  an  apprehension 


37 

that  lie  was  becoming  an  i-icuuibrance  io  the  Col- 
lege, and  would  not  be  able  to  make  a  full  return 
of  service  for  the  salary  attached  to  his  station. 
That  honourable  body,  with  a  liberality  and  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  worthy  of  them  and  of  him,  resist- 
ed the  attempt  made  by  him  to  surrender  tiie  trust 
he  had  received  from  tlieir  predecessors.  But  to  re- 
lieve him  from  the  task  of  instruction, and  to  secure 
to  him  the  leisure  and  tranquility  wliich  his  n?-?, 
and  infirmities  demanded,  tliey  established  an  Ad- 
junct Professorship,  to  prc.vitlefor  hi3  entire  wiili- 
drav.  al  from  the  labours  of  his  station.  The  indi- 
vidual selected  by  Dr.  Caldwell  himself  to  fill 
this  Professorship,  however  unfitted  in  other  re>5- 
pects  he  may  have  been,  brouglit  to  the  filial  task, 
a  heart  full  of  veneration  and  love,  and  a  resolu- 
tion to  fulfil  to  the  nttermost  the  pious  purpose  of 
the  Trustees.  But  thougli  provision  was  tlius 
made,  by  the  character  of  the  Professorship  and 
the  disposition  of  its  incumbent,  for  the  entire  re- 
lease of  Dr.  Caldwell  from  the  business  of  in- 
struction, he  could  not  be  induced  to  avail  himself 
of  the  indulgence  to  the  extent  proposed,  but  re- 
solutely persevered,  till  witliin  three  days  of  his 
death,iu  xierforming  as  much  labour  as  his  fast  de- 
clining strength  was  equal  to.  One  half  of  the 
ordinary  duties  of  his  Professorship  he  reserved  to 
himself,  and  manifested  a  settled  purpose  to  abide 
by  this  arrangement,  by  assigning  to  his  adjunct, 
in  addition  to  the  other  half,a  portion  of  the  gener- 
al business  of  the  College.     Though  Iiis  frame  was 


f>J 


racked  with  unremitting  pain^  and  worn  and  wast- 
ed by  sleepless  and  tortured  nights,  yet  on  no  oc- 
casioU;  except  during  an  attendance  on  the  Pres- 
bytery  to  which  he  belonged,  and  a  visit  to  Phila- 
delphia in  a  fruitless  effort  to  find  relief  from  his 
increasing  sufferings—on  no  other  occasion,  did  he 
devolve  these  reserved  duties  on  his  associate, 
though  often  and  earnestly  intreated  to  do  so. 
''  Sepulcliri  immemor,  stridt  doinoa.^^  On  tlic 
Saturday  previous  to  his  death,  he  retired  from 
the  lecture  room  to  his  bed,  from  which  he  never 
rose  again,  but  under  the  impulse  of  his  mortal 
agonies. 

The  religious  character  of  Dr.  Caldwell  was 
not  the  formation  of  a  day,  nor  the  hasty  and  im- 
perfect work  of  a  dying  bed.  His  trust  w^as  an- 
cliored  on  the  rock  of  ages,  and  he  was  therefore 
well  furnished  for  the  terrible  conflict  that  await- 
ed him.  We  have  seen  that  lie  had  made  lleli- 
gion  the  guide  of  his  youth  ;  it  beautified  and  sanc- 
tified the  labours  of  liis  well  spent  life  ;  nor  did 
it  fail  him  in  the  trying  hour,which  an  all-wise  but 
inscrutable  providence  permitted  to  be  to  him  pe- 
culiarly dark  and  fearful.  The  rich  consolations 
of  his  faith  became  brighter  and  stronger,  amidst 
the  wreck  of  the  decaying  tabernacle  of  flesh;  and, 
if  the  dying  testimony  of  a  pure  and  humble  spirit 
may  be  received,  death  had  for  him  no  sting — the 
grave  achieved  no  triumph.  In  any  frequent  and 
detailed  account  of  his  religious  feelings,  he  was 
not  inclined  to  indulge— the  spirit  that  walks  most 


3d 

closely  with  its  God, needs  not  the  sustaining  influ- 
ence of  such  excitements — yelafew  weeks  previous 
to  his  death. afriend  from  a  distant  part  of  the  State 
calling  to  see  liim,  made  Inquiries  as  to  the  state  of 
his  mind^aud  had  the  privilege  of  hearing  from  him 
the  calm  assurance  of  Iiis  perfect  resignation  and 
submission  to  the  w  ill  of  God.  His  hope  of  a  hap- 
py immortality  beyond  tlie  grave,  was  such  as  be- 
longs only  to  the  Christian,  and  by  him  was  mod- 
estly and  humbly  but  confidently  entertained.  It 
was  to  him  a  principle  of  strength  that  sustained 
liim  amidst  tlic  conflicts  of  the  dark  valley,  and  to 
iis,Avho  witnessed  the  agonies  of  his  parting  hour, 
a  bright  radiance  illuming  the  gloom  which  mem- 
ory throws  around  the  trying  scene.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  24th  of  January,  his  terrible  disease 
made  its  last  ferocious  assault, with  such  violence, 
that  he  knew  that  bis  hour  of  release  was  at  hand. 
He  gratefully  hailed  the  anxiously  expected  pe- 
riod, and  his  house  having  long  since  been  set  in 
order,  he  withdrew  his  thouglits  from  eartlily  ob- 
jects, and  calmly  looked  upon  that  futurity  to  whose 
verge  he  was  come.  By  the  exercise  of  prayer 
and  other  acts  of  the  holy  religion  which  he  pro- 
fessed, he  strengthened  him  for  the  last  conflict, 
and  spoke  words  of  consolation  and  hope,  to  his 
sorrowing  friends.  But  death  was  yet  to  be  in- 
dulged with  a  brief  triumph,  and  for  three  days 
his  sufferings  w^ere  protracted  with  such  intensity, 
that  his  vigorous  and  well  balanced  mind  sank  be- 
neath the  contest.     We  willingly  drop  the  veil 


40 

over  the  bitter  recollections  of  that  hour,  and  take 
refuge  in  those  high  and  holy  hopes,  which  were 
the  last  objects  of  his  fading  consciousness,  and 
^vhich  had  lent  to  the  long  twilight  of  his  mortal 
career,  some  of  the  light  of  tliat  heaven  to  which 
they  had  directed  his  longing  gaze.  To  no  one 
liere,  need  I  tell  of  the  universal  and  heartfelt  sor- 
row, with  which  the  intelligence  of  Br.  Caldwell's 
deathvras  received  tlsroiighout  our  State,  multitudes 
there  were,  who  felt  that  they  had  been  deprived 
cf  a  personal  benefactor — of  one,  Avhose  kindness 
and  the  value  of  whose  services  to  them,  are  more 
and  more  valued,  as  increasing  experience  points 
out  the  worth  of  those  labours  which  the  young  can 
never  fully  appreciate.  The  Trustees  of  theUniver- 
sity,more  than  one  half  of  v/hom  had  been  students 
of  the  Institution  while  under  his  charge,becamethe 
organs  of  the  public  sentiment,  in  the  expression  of 
the  general  grief,  and,  it  is  in  obedience  to  their 
commands,  that  1  stand  here  before  you  this  day. 
Some  of  them, with  alumni  and  others  from  abroad, 
mingled  in  the  train  of  tlie  bereaved  oflBcers  and 
members  of  the  college,  in  committing  to  the  dust 
all  that  remained  to  us  of  our  departed  Father. — 
All  that  remained,  did  I  say  ?  I  look  around 
me, and  stand  rebuked  for  the  desponding  murmur. 
The  labours  of  a  useful  life,  to  use  the  thought  of 
an  old  stoick,  are  like  things  consecrated  to  God, 
over  which  mortality  has  no  power.  ^^ II^c  est 
pars  iemporis  nostri,  sacra  ac  dedicata ;  quam 
non  inopa^  non  mcUis,  non  morhorum  incursus 


41 

cxagitat.-'  The  pure  and  patient  spirit  iias  va- 
cape  1  its  narrow  and  tempest-stricken  prison  iiouse, 
tlie  wasted  form  is  resting  from  its  sore  conflict,  in 
(lie  blessed  liope  of  a  joyful  resurrection,  but  those 
consecrated  acts  of  Jiis  useful  life  remain  with  us, 
to  spread  their  beneficent  influence  through  suc- 
cessive generations.  It  is  a  trite  remark  to  speak 
of  the  ever  renewed  effects  ofsuch  an  influence;  but 
calm  observation  and  reflection  abundantly  sanc- 
tion the  warm  effusions  of  our  grateful  admiration. 
The  benefits  received  from  a  faithful  instructer  and 
guide  of  our  you f Is,  are  not  only  transmitted  to 
our  children,  but  through  our  vvliole  lives  exert  a 
diffusive  influence  throughout  the  sphere  in  which 
we  move.  We  may  say,  therefore,  without  the 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  whole  present  gene- 
ration of  the  citizens  of  North-Carolina  owe  to  the 
memory  of  Dr.  Caldwell,  gratitude  as  well  as 
admiration;  and  that  we  are  indebted  to  his  agency, 
directly  or  indirectly,  more  than  to  any  other  indi- 
vidual, for  the  very  remarkable  change  that  has  ta- 
ken place  in  tlie  moral  and  intellectual  character 
of  our  State  within  the  last  forty  years.  I  speak 
not  only  of  the  fruits  of  liis  labours,  as  a  faithful 
instructer  and  ripe  scholar,  though  it  Avere  not  an 
easy  task  to  estimate  their  extent ; — I  claim  not 
for  his  tomb,  only  the  sphere  and  the  cylinder 
which  decoratetl  that  ofJirchimedesi — I  speak  of  the 
whole  moral  influence  of  his  life  and  labours — as 
a  christian  minister,  an  enlightened  and  active  pa- 
triot— as  one  who  conscienciously  fulfilled  all  the 
6 


49 

duties  binding  liim  as  a  man   and  a  Cliiistian;^ — I 
claim  to  write  upon  his  tomb  the  proud  but  safe 
defiance — "UJi  lapsus?- ■     The  relation  in  which 
our  deceased  friend  stood  towards  a  great  part  of 
my  audience,  as  well  as  that  which  the  speaker 
occupies,  will  justify  me  in  inviting  the  attention 
of  my  younger  hearers  to  a  brief  consideration  of 
the  principles  of  that  moral   strengtli,   which  Dr. 
Caldv/ell  exerted  with  such  salutary  power  on 
all  who  came  within  his  influence,  and  in   endea- 
vouring to  draw  from  thence  some  lesson  of  wis- 
dom or  motive  to  exertion.     In  allusion  to  the  lit" 
tie  knowledge  whicli  we  possess  of  the  early  stu- 
dies of  the  illustrious  Newton,  i^o?i;fe)7eZ/e  applied 
to  him  the  idea  of  the  Ancients  respecting  tlie  un- 
known source  of  the  river  Nile — ^'  No  one  has 
ever  looked  upon  the  Nile  in  its  feebleness  and  in- 
fancy."    But  we,  my  young  friends,   have  kcre 
been  more  favored.  That  magnificent  stream  which 
has  fertilized  and  blessed  our  borders  for  so  many 
years,  we  have  just  been  tracing  up  to  its  young- 
est  and   freshest   fountains,    and  it  is  permitted 
us  to  draw  from  thence, new  draughts  of  instruction 
and  delight.     As  in  his  maturer  years,  your  de- 
parted friend  was  your  guide  and  governor,  let 
him,  in  his  youth,  be  your  example.  Learn  that  it 
was  in  his  early  life,that  his  character,in  its  great 
outlines,  was  irrevocably  fixed;  that  the  honest, 
candid,  generous  and    open-hearted  boy  ^^  fore- 
showed the  man"  who  brought  to  the  engagements 
and  occupations  of  after  life,  the  same  ennobling 


43 

principles.     His  example  confirms,  what  the  ex- 
ample of  thousands  who  went]>efore  him  lias  taught 
you,  that  it  is  not  by  sudden  and  solitary   acts  of 
volition   that  men  prepare  themselves  to  become 
conspicuous,  in  either  good  or  evil;  but  by  a  dis- 
cipline conimeiicing  in  childhood,  and  continuing 
tlirough  youth  far  into  maturer  life.      If  it  may  be 
permitted   me   to  look  into  the   elements  of  that 
mighty  intellect  which  has  been  prolific  of  such 
momentous  results—into  tlie  ^'altse penetralia  men^ 
iis^'  before  which  we  have  long  bowed  with  such 
reverence  and  admiration — I  would  say,  that  Dr. 
Caldwell  was  not  indebted  in  any  extraordinary 
degree,  to  the  bounty  of  Nature,  for  the  extent  and 
perfection  of  his  large  mental  acquirements.  To  pa- 
tient and  persevering  industry  his  youth  was  indebt- 
ed for  that  wide  and  solid  foundation, on  which  the 
patient  and  persevering  industry  of  manhood  rear- 
ed so  noble  a  superstructure.  But  that  which  I  have 
ever  esteemed  the  great  primary  element  of  his  in- 
tellectual excellence,  and  which  I  am  desirous  of 
indicating  to  you,  the  more  particularly  as  it  seems 
to  be  a  quality  but  little  esteemed  in  these  days  of 
hurried  and  superficial  learning,   was  the  perfect 
accuracy  which  he  gave  to  his  every  mental  acqui- 
sition.    However  slow,  a  strict  regard  to  this  fun- 
damental quality  might  make  his  progress  appear, 
it  was  never  sacrificed  to  the  whispers  of  indolence, 
nor  to  the  murmurs  of  impatience.  Whatever  pro- 
gress was  made,  though  it  were  slow  and  painful 
at  first,  the  ground  was  thoroughly  conquered,and 


41 

every  outpost  full}'  occupied  ;  nothing  was  leftuii- 
iinished  to  annoy  him  by  the  necessity  of  constant 
retrospection,  nor  to  impede  his  onward  march  by 
a  sense  of  insecurity  and  doubt.  Nor  is  the  even- 
tual flight  of  a  mind,  thus  solicitous  about  the  ac- 
curacy and  perfection  of  its  first  movements,  less 
rapid  or  less  elevated  than  the  towering,  but  une- 
qual essays  of  what  is  sometimes  called  genius. — 
The  latter  may  at  times  soar  to  the  highest  heavens; 
but  it  has  often  to  stoop  to  earth  to  repair  the  de- 
ficiencies of  its  early  preparation ;  while  the  for- 
mer, having  once  surmounted  the  difficulties  and 
dull  delays  of  its  lower  flight,  thenceforward 
moves  in  a  purer  sky — 

Heaven's  sunsliine  on  its  joyful  way, 

And  freedom  on  its  wings. 

Learn  then,  my  young  friends,  this  lesson  from 
the  bright  example  that  is  left  you — -take  it  as  a 
rich  legacy  of  a  dead  father,  so  that  the  precepts 
of  wisdom  which  you  have  so  often  heard  from  his 
living  lips,  may  be  perpetuated  now  that  those  lips 
are  closed  forever.  Whatever  you  attempt,  learn 
accurately  and  thoroughly.  Accjuire  the  habit  of 
giving  perfection  to  every  thing,  however  humble, 
tiiat  you  undertake,  and  it  will  furnish  you  with 
tluB  weapons  best  fitted  to  secure  you  an  honourable 
triumph,  in  the  arduous  confliclb  that  await  you  in 
the  world.  Nor,  while  thus  presenting  his  intel- 
lectual character  to  your  imitation,  Avould  I  have 
yon  lose  sight  of  the  great  moving  principle  of  iiis 
moral  character.     In  one  word,   the  JReligiou  of 


45 

Jesus  Clirist  gave  tliiectioti  and  officiLMicj  to  all 
liis  varied  Avorks.  To  its  claims  he  sacrificed 
every  conflicting  passion  and  propensity  of  early 
youth,  and  it  became  the  easy  habit  of  iiis  manhood 
and  old  age.     Its  legitimate  fruit, 

"  The  !ove 

"Ofiuiman  race,  the  large  ambitious  wish 

"To  make  them  bli?st," 

was  the  rule  of  his  life  in  all  his  intercourse  with 
the  world  ;  and  an  unfaltering  trust  in  the  promi- 
ses of  his  Saviour,  was  his  stay  and  consolation 
through  his  arduous  pilgrimage,  and  enabled  him, 
at  the  last,to  give  up  his  body  with  uncomplaining 
patience  to  the  bitterest  pangs  of  mortality,  and 
his  undying  spirit,  with  confidence  and  joy,  to  its 
Maker  and  Kedeemer. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some,  that  the  dignity  of 
manner,  sometimes  approaching  to  sternness,  which 
characterized  Dr.CALDWELL's  intercourse  with  the 
students  of  the  University  was  the  result  of  a  corres- 
ponding sternness  of  temper.  This  injurious  thought 
might  be  easily  repelled  by  the  testimony  of  those 
who  were  admitted  to  the  high  privilege  of  social 
companionship  with  him,  and  who  could  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  kind  and  courteous,  though  still  digni- 
fied demeanor,  which  marked  all  his  intercourse 
with  them.  Circumstances  easily  understood,  im- 
parted to  his  manner,  when  brought  into  contact 
with  those  under  his  charge,  a  certain  degree  of 
reserve;  which,  however,  was  greatly  misunder- 
stood, if  regarded  as  indicating  a  want  of  sympathy 


46 

with  their  youthful  feeUngs,or  a  wish  to  repel  them 
from  communion  with  him.  The  brief  glance  w  hich 
we  have  taken  at  the  early  condition  of  our  Col- 
lege, and  its  tempestuous  elements,  which  then 
needed  a  master-spirit  to  subdue  and  control  them, 
reveals  to  us  the  necessity  there  was  for  tliat  au- 
thoritative dignity  and  decision  of  character, 
which, after  that  period, so  eminently  distinguished 
Dr.  Caldwell.  In  obedience  to  the  law  which 
was  the  rule  of  his  life — the  fitting  himself  to  fulfil 
in  the  best  possible  manner  the  duties  of  the  sta- 
tion in  which  Providence  had  placed  him — ^lie 
moulded  his  temper  and  deportment  to  the  de- 
mands  of  his  peculiar  situation ;  and,  if  in  more 
quiet  times  he  did  not  entirely  recede  from  the 
manner  which  circumstances  had  forced  upon  him, 
something  must  be  forgiven  to  the  inflexibility  of 
habits  acquired  upon  principle,  and  continued 
from  necessity  througli  many  successive  years. — 
But  who  are  they  who  bring  this  charge  of  stern- 
ness against  his  memory?  Those  who  judge  has- 
tily and  superficially,  not  those  who  have  had  the 
best  opportunities  of  knowing  him.  They  who  have 
been  brought  into  the  closest  contact  with  him, 
will  tell  you,  that,  though  hardened  vice  w^as  ever 
frowned  upon  with  severity,  yet,  when  ingenuous 
and  honorable  contrition  was  excited,  his  brow  was 
the  first  to  relax,  and  his  tongue  the  first  to  drop 
the  balm  of  kindness  and  encouragement.  They 
will    bear  the  grateful  testimony,  that  his 

"Authority  in  sliow, 
<' When  most  severe,  and  mustering  all  its  force. 


'*  Was  but  the  graver  countenance  of  love, 

"  Whose  favour,  like  the  clouds  of  Spring,  mia,ht  lower 

*'  And  utter  now  and  then  an  awful  voice 

<'  But  had  a  blessing  in  its  daikest  frown." 

Iq  his  general  iutercoiise,  Dr.  Caldwell  was 
accessible  and  courteous,  and  though  in  his  usual 
habits  much  devoted  to  study,  he  relished  in  a  ve- 
ry high  degree  the  pleasures  of  intellectual  society. 
In  the  various  domestick  relations  of  life,  he  ex- 
hibited thekindest  and  gentlest  traits  of  character; 
and,  with  a  heart  and  hand  open  as  the  day  to 
melting  charity,  he  was  the  beloved  benefactor  of 
the  whole  circle  in   which  he  moved. 

I  have  thus,  in  obedience  to  commands  which 
I  might  not  disregard,  endeavoured  to  trace.tliough 
with  a  feeble  hand,  the  incidents  of  a  life  so  dear 
to  us  all,  and  to  unfold  some  of  the  traits  of  that 
character  which  has  been  so  long  our  pride  and 
admiration.  I  have  departed,  though  not  unde- 
signedly, from  the  usual  tenor  of  such  Addresses, 
by  dwelling  chiefly  on  passages  best  calculated  for 
examples  to  the  young,  and  on  intellectual  and  mO' 
ral  traits  most  suited  for  lessons  of  instruction  and 
encouragement  to  the  more  youthful  part  of  my 
hearers.  I  trust  that  for  this,  no  apology  is  ne- 
cessary. If,  on  the  tomb  of  the  Scythian  Prince, 
who,  when  living,  took  delight  in  the  abasement 
of  all  around  him,  it  was  thought  a  meet  sacrifice 
to  immolate  his  courtiers  and  flatterers — if  the  fu- 
neral pile  of  the  more  polished,  but  blood-thirsty 
lloman,  was  stained  by  the  blood  of  gladiators  and 
captives — and,  if  the  image  of  a  Lion  w  as  engra- 


4S 

veil  on  the  tomb  of  the  devoted  Thebaii  wlio  per- 
ished for  his  country ;  tlien  is  it  a  becoming  sacri- 
fice to  tlie  spirit  of  the  great  and  good  man  whom  we 
have  lost^  to  endeavour  to  light  up  a  spark  of  vir- 
tuous resolution  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who  were^, 
but  so  lately,  the  objects  of  his  crre  and  love. 

If  that  beatified  spirit  is  permitted  to  mingle  with 
us,  his  sorrowing  friends  and  children,  this  day — 
to  revisit  this,  the  scene  of  his  affectionate  cares, 
his  oft-recurring  anxieties — to  look,  with  such  so- 
licitude as  the  blessed  may  feel,  into  the  hearts  of 
us  all-think  you,  it  will  value  any  tribute,  like  the 
earnest  determination  of  a  virtuous  heart,  to  walk 
after  the  bright  example  he  has  set  before  us  ?  As 
for  me,  I  know  that  ia  endeavouring  to  excite  you 
to  this  noble  resolution,  my  feeble  effort  will  be 
acknowledged  by  that  blessed  spirit,  as  the  fittest 
offering  of  filial  love  ;  and,  if  my  labour  be  not 
wholly  fruitless,  our  communion  of  this  hour  will 
not  be  forgotten,'"'\Vfreri'oz^r  bodies,  like  his,  are 
slumberins;  in  thd  ihacei^ious  dust. 


